The ACT Government is delivering a number of new and expanded measures to provide further cost of living relief to Canberrans.
Cost of living pressures are continuing to be felt across the country.
While Canberrans generally enjoy a high standard of living, there are some in our community doing it very tough.
The Territory Government offers a range of targeted discounts, rebates and subsidies to support those in our community who need it most.
The 2023-24 ACT Budget includes new and expanded measures to further support households and individuals, including:
- Expanding the Utilities Concession eligibility criteria to include anyone with a Commonwealth Health Care Card, meaning 12,000 more households will benefit from this support, taking the total number of eligibility households to 43,800.
- A one-off increase of $50 to the Utilities Concession, raising the amount from $750 to $800 in 2023-24, to help further relieve cost of living pressures for 43,800 households.
- An additional payment of $250 to households on Housing ACT’s priority housing waiting list (as of 27 June 2023) in 2023-24, providing further cost of living support to some of the most vulnerable members of our community.
- Increasing the Taxi Subsidy Scheme’s cap by 15 per cent – and removing the requirement to apply for additional trips – to ensure Canberrans with a disability or mobility restriction who are unable to use public or community transport can continue to access an accessible and affordable alternative and get out and about in the community.
- Increasing the means (income) test for access to Legal Aid assistance to better align with cost of living, to support more Canberrans to access legal representation if needed.
Cost of living has been a key consideration throughout this year’s Budget preparation.
Beyond the changes announced this year, the Government will review other aspects of our Targeted Assistance Strategy and will make further announcements regarding this process in the coming months.
The ACT Government’s fiscal management has enabled us to continue delivering the infrastructure and services our growing city needs, while helping relieve cost of living pressures.
This year’s ACT Budget includes significant investment in quality public healthcare and education, an increased supply of diverse and affordable housing options, and accessible public transport. These infrastructure projects continue to create thousands of jobs, strengthening our economy.
Our nation-leading action on climate change – including our transition to 100 per cent renewable electricity – continues to translate to lower energy bills.
Canberra households and small businesses will also benefit from the ACT Government’s partnership with the Commonwealth Government to provide additional energy bill relief through the National Energy Bill Relief Fund. In 2023-24 all Canberra households and businesses will share in over $75 million in direct bill relief as a return from the ACT Government’s Large-scale Feed-in Tariff Scheme.
These 2023-24 ACT Budget initiatives relate to the ACT Wellbeing Framework’s living standards wellbeing domain.
Quotes attributable to ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr:
High inflation and rising interest rates are continuing to place pressure on many households.
The ACT Government is committed to delivering targeted support to those in our community who need it most.
This is the second year in a row the ACT Government has provided a $50 increase to the Utilities Concession to help relieve cost of living pressures for low-income households.
The expansion of the Utilities Concession eligibility criteria to include any Canberran with a Commonwealth Health Card is expected to support around 12,000 extra households.
The ACT Government’s transition to 100 per cent renewable electricity continues to shield Canberra households from the electricity price volatility experienced in other jurisdictions, leading to cheaper energy bills.
All Canberra households and small businesses will benefit from the partnership between the ACT Government and the Commonwealth Government to deliver additional energy bill relief through the National Energy Bill Relief Fund in 2023-24.
